In 1937, St. Josemaría Escrivá and his companions were smuggled out of Barcelona. Not long after, the Communist police cracked down on the place they had been staying at. During their escape, they stayed in a farmhouse and celebrated Mass with a glass as the chalice and a notebook as the Missal. There was still a risk of capture, so they moved to an abandoned rectory nearby. St. Josemaría began having doubts whether it was the will of God that he leave Madrid and escape Communist-controlled territory. He prayed to the Virgin Mary to give him a rose as a sign that he was doing the will of God. One day, as he told his companions that he would not be celebrating Mass, he went to an abandoned church and emerged ecstatic. In his hands was a wooden rose – he would celebrate Mass that day. At another time, they had to hide in a cabin in the woods to wait for more refugees before continuing. St. Josemaría named it St. Raphael’s Cabin and prayed for the angel’s intercession. As a witness later recounted, the Mass that he celebrated in the forest was very sacred. The priest was recollected and focused and the singing of birds added to the atmosphere.

This is the first episode of our new podcast, The Holy Catholic Brew! In this episode, Jeremy and Lyndon talk about how the podcast started, the meaning of the name, who we are, how we met, and how we approached the faith and God.
Throughout the conversation, we mentioned lots of acronymous groups that we joined at one point or another. So you can keep up with them, here’s a handy list:
UTCCC = University of Toronto Chinese Catholic Community: https://utccc.wordpress.com/
St. Agnes Parish = St. Agnes Kouying Tsao Catholic Church: https://stagneskouyingtsao.archtoronto.org/
YOSAC = Youth Of St. Agnes Church: https://stagneskouyingtsao.archtoronto.org/Ministries/youth-ministries/yosac
GT = Ga Tung = Eastern Canada Chinese Catholic Living Camp: https://eccclc.ca/
Newman Centre Toronto: http://www.newmantoronto.com/
The song you heard in the intro and outro was “Roll Away Your Stone” and “Awake My Soul”, both by Mumford and Sons. If you have any friends and family that you think would like this podcast, please share us with them wherever you listen to your podcasts!